Garrison Keillor's Podcast

It's the birthday of Amelia Earhart (1897). She had been studying medicine when she went to her first air show in California, and it was then that she decided to become a pilot.

It was on this day in 1903 that the Ford Motor Company sold its first car. The Model A was painted red, fit two people, had no roof, and reached 28 mph at top speed.

It’s the birthday of Johann Gregor Mendel (1822), whose experiments on pea plants helped him develop his theory of inheritance, including the notion of recombination of genes.

The first U.S. train robbery west of the Mississippi took place in Adair, Iowa, on this day in 1873, when the James Gang held up the Rock Island Express.

It’s the 50th anniversary of the first manned moon landing. Neil Armstrong & Buzz Aldrin left a plaque on the moon that ended with, “We came in peace for all mankind.”

On this day 65 years ago, the first volume of J. R. R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” was published. The three complete volumes were more than 500,000 words long.

It’s the birthday of journalist Hunter S. Thompson (1937). After he died, per his request, his ashes were shot from a cannon.

On this date in 1867, the Harvard Dental School was founded. Prior to the 19th century, people generally went to barbers or blacksmiths to get teeth pulled.

In 1945 on this day, the first atomic bomb exploded 120 miles south of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Officials told citizens that an ammunitions dump had blown up.

It’s the birthday of the philosopher who said “There is nothing outside the text” — Jacques Derrida, born in El Biar, Algeria, 1930.